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an electrician has to spend as an apprentice in order to take the
journeyman’s test. The national average salary for a journeyman
electrician, according to ZipRecruiter, is $68,000—significantly
more than the average college graduate is making right out of
school after that same four-year period.
Two
Job availability and future prospects
The above example—of an electrical apprentice getting their four
years of experience, hitting their required hours on the job, passing
the journeyman’s test, and leveling up to a whole new income
bracket—is illustrative of the job growth opportunities that await in
the skilled trades. Again, the trades are full of career paths where,
as your skills grow, so do your responsibilities and so does your
compensation. Those willing to put in the work—and to accept that
they’ll have a lot to learn when they get started in their careers—will
find plenty of room to grow.
There is also a broader trend in the skilled trades right now that
points to a bright future for individuals who choose a trades-related
career path. Most careers in the skilled trades are weathering
worker shortages right now, and many are projected to grow in the
next decade. This growth in demand and need will mean bigger
worker shortages unless more people start pursuing the skilled
trades. In the meantime, the higher demand and lower supply of
trades workers will create increasingly substantial levels of scarcity
on the job market, only driving trades salaries higher.
Even beyond bigger paychecks, worker shortages could lead
to other perks for workers coming into skilled trades industries,
including better benefits, signing bonuses, the opportunity for
referral bonuses once employed, and employers paying for further
training or education. If you want to start working right out of high
school but do ultimately have interest in going to college and
getting a bachelor’s degree in your career of choice, there is a